Meditation Myth #2: I have too many thoughts, so I am bad at meditation

Human brains are amazing machines. It is estimated that we can have as many as 125 thoughts per second. That’s 10 million a day if we were awake all day!

Thoughts are tricky, like a chain, one to another to another. You may have heard the phrase “monkey mind” as one description of how thoughts jump in the mind. This term historically refers to being unsettled, restless, or confused. This is important, as we often feel we are rocking it with multi-tasking, but instead research shows thinking about many things at once does leave us unsettled and unfocused.

Having many thoughts and feelings is the nature of being human. Taming a busy mind is not about the absence of thoughts. Meditation is about learning to train your mind to be calm, even during chaos. This allows us to focus on one thought or feeling and fully understand it, before letting go and moving on to the next thought or feeling. The ability to do this allows you to consider concepts, people, and ideas in a new light with fresh eyes. Ultimately, this leads to better decision making as well as being fully in touch with your thoughts and emotions as they come and go.

Daily meditation practice helps you to objectively view thoughts passing through your mind. The big win in meditation is when you start to notice a thought, rather than simply thinking it. Every time you notice yourself thinking while you sit and bring yourself back to meditation is like doing a set of pushups. Over time the practice will get easier! As you sit, you observe what your senses bring in, without holding on to it, or getting caught up in the emotions that result from passing thoughts. Look at each thought without judgment and let it go, like a leaf on the wind.

In my personal practice I find it useful to categorize the thought in order to let it go. Ah, planning thought. Rumination. Planning again. I remind myself that none of these thoughts are so important they can’t wait for 10 minutes, and I return to the breath and the meditation. As one guru said “I see the thoughts come in through the front door and leave through the back door, but I don’t invite them to stay for tea.” If you want to try a meditation focused on calming the mind, check out my “calming our mind even within chaos” meditation on the Insight Timer app.